I’m from Winchester, Va. I was kind of
bouncing around from job to job. I didn’t
have any idea what I really wanted to do
after high school. I was mainly working
on my family’s farm and I realized I didn’t
want to do this for the rest of my life. I
wanted to find something a little more
rewarding and interesting.

My cousin was stationed on the USS
Enterprise before it was decommissioned. He was telling me about the
Navy, and I had a couple other buddies
who were in the Navy as well. We had
discussed it and that definitely helped
lead me to that decision to join.

I selected the Aerographer (AG)
rating right out of the Military Entry
Processing Station. On the farm,
weather always has an impact on the
crops, animals and everything else. My
grandfather would always tell me old
wives’ tales and, for some odd reason,
everything he said turned out to be true.

I wanted to dig a little bit deeper,
so meteorology and oceanography have
always been interesting to me. Just the
fact that it’s constantly changing, it’s
never the same thing every day.

After boot camp in 2008, I completed A School in Biloxi, Miss.
Then I was assigned to the Naval

2008-2011. That was probably my best tour so far,
at least my most exciting assignment, just based on
the camaraderie throughout the command — the
friendships and challenges that we had to face — the
different schools I got to attend that wouldn’t have
been available if I did not go to that command.